Two Things
by pinkiethebandit
Summary: All Gnarly ever wants is for Sofia to be happy. Sometimes that's not so good for him.


**AN:** This is just a rough little character thing I wrote for myself. To anyone reading, thank you and I hope you enjoy :)

Sofia and Gnarly are teenagers here.

* * *

"Sofia," Gnarly pleaded. "It's getting late! I have to get back to the caves before sunup!"

"Don't worry, Gnarly," Sofia said in the sweet, spritely way Gnarly had come to fear viscerally. "We've still got a little more time before it gets too bright."

Troll instincts tingling, he gave it one more shot. "But we've got plenty of apples to take back for Aunt Pansy."

"Gnarly! It's so nice out, we can't leave yet!" she wheedled.

Staring up into her big, blue eyes, sparkling in the luminescence of a crystal she'd brought from the troll cavern, Gnarly's resistance crumbled. "O-kay," he said, dragging out the 'o' part.

She tossed him a grin that was every bit as terrifying as it was dazzling, followed by an apple. Gnarly caught the luscious red fruit and added it to their already full basket, gazing forlornly up at her as she balanced on the tree's highest bough to reach for another. Briefly, he considered throwing her over his shoulder and marching back to the castle, but that really wasn't very gentlemanly. _Looks like Princess Pipsqueak wins again,_ he thought with a sigh.

After picking a few more apples, Sofia made her way back down to the ground, Gnarly ready to catch her if she lost her footing. Even though he knew she didn't need it, he stuck out a well-muscled forearm as she approached the lowest branch. "Thanks, Gnarly," she said, smiling and taking his hand before dropping to the ground. She wobbled a bit on landing, but Gnarly's solid grip helped steady her.

The crisp, cool air of the orchard really did feel nice around them as they walked in the direction of the castle, dewy grass bending under their feet. Between them they carried the heavy basket. In actuality, Gnarly was doing most of the carrying, but he didn't mind; he was more than up to the task and, though he would never say such a thing out loud for fear of having his shin broken, Sofia was not.

"I'm so glad we came to the orchard," Sofia said, breathing deep.

"Me too," he replied, smiling despite the sting of the rising sun. Spending time with Sofia was worth a little discomfort.

Sofia noticed Gnarly's free hand shading his eyes and frowned in concern, no small measure of guilt creeping into her gut. She'd overestimated how much time they had and underestimated how far the orchard was from the troll village under the castle. With a quick glance at the eastern horizon, where the sun was already beginning to crest, she realized there was no way they'd make it back before it was well and truly up. "I think we better find somewhere to get out of the light," she said worriedly.

Tempting as that sounded, Gnarly thought of all the trouble he was already in with his aunt. Besides, the cave was way less than an hour away. "I don't think that's a very good idea, shorty. Aunt Pansy's probably planning my funeral by now. And aren't you supposed to be back at the castle before breakfast?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then we keep going, right?"

"Okay. But you'll tell me if you need to take a break?" she said seriously, looking him in the eye over their basket.

"I will," he said.

They were silent as the sun rose higher, soon hitting Gnarly full on. Crackly spots blurred his vision and he shut his eyes tight, letting Sofia guide him forward. His head throbbed; he'd never been out in the daylight for so long. Strong green fingers pressed into the expanse of skin just above his right eyebrow, he gritted his teeth against a wave of nausea.

"We're almost there, Gnarly," Sofia murmured. She ran a hand up and down his back, wishing she could ease his pain; but even more she wished she'd listened to him earlier. At the time, she'd just wanted to spend a few more minutes with her friend in one of her favorite places. Now all she wanted was to get him home, to the soothing dark of the troll caves and out of this infernal daylight.

Finally, they reached the sanctuary of the cavern mouth. It took all of Gnarly's self-possession not to sink to the ground in relief. Thinking longingly of his bed, he crossed the sturdy, rebuilt bridge to the troll village, Sofia by his side.

"Where have you been?" Ms. Pansy asked anxiously as soon as they opened the door to the house where she, Gnarly and Teeny lived. It was a cheerful, inviting place with one round wall and a stairway leading off of the main room to the bedrooms, each its own round little island. Sofia and James occasionally spent the night in Teeny and Gnarly's rooms respectively.

"I'm really sorry we're late, but can I go lay down for a while? My head is killing me," said Gnarly.

Initially, Aunt Pansy frowned darkly, but after a moment her expression softened and she put her hands on either side of his face. "Of course, sweetie. Get some sleep. We'll talk about this when you wake up."

Gnarly set the basket down on a low table and went up to his room, Sofia following. Immediately he lay down and buried his face in the pillow.

Sofia sat on a low stool next to him. "I'm so sorry, Gnarly," she said, stroking his black curls.

His reply was muffled but still intelligible. "Don't worry about it, Sofia. We made it back in time."

Sofia shook her head. She felt awful for putting her friend through this.

Gnarly shifted to face her, sensing distress in the quality of her silence. That wouldn't do. "Hey, I'm a big boy, I could have come back if I wanted."

"Why didn't you?" Sofia asked. Gnarly's expression morphed into something warm that she couldn't read, something that made a part of her she didn't know very well sit up and pay attention.

"I like spending time with you," Gnarly answered. It was true enough, but not the main reason he'd stayed. Not really, anyway. The heart of the matter was actually Gnarly's complete devotion to the diminutive princess and accompanying inability to refuse her anything. But she didn't need to know that. "I didn't want it to be over yet."

The half-unknown part of her quivered a bit at that, whether in delight or panic or some combination of the two, she couldn't be sure. She ran a nervous hand through her hair, tucking a strand of it behind her ear. "I should let you rest. I hope you feel better soon, Gnarly."

"I'll try, shorty." _Anything you want, shorty._

Feeling sort of raw and hyperaware, Sofia resisted the impulse to squeeze his hand before she left. Under normal circumstances, she had no reservations about touching her friends, but right now she had this _feeling_…like she'd be struck by lightning if she touched Gnarly. And yet, she kind of thought she might like being struck by that particular specimen of lightning….

"Princess Sofia," said Ms. Pansy, standing and crossing her arms when Sofia entered the living space.

The guilt back in full force, Sofia withered under her scrutiny.

"It may not be my place to say this," Pansy started, then paused to gather her thoughts. She had to be careful, Sofia might be her children's friend but she was still a princess, and historically royals weren't very understanding of trollfolk. She almost decided not to say anything, when an image of her nephew, frozen for all eternity by the sun's rays, rose up in her mind. "Gnarly's a good kid. I know he would've been back here by curfew if it had been up to him, so I also know that staying out past dawn was your idea. I'm going to ask you, Your Highness, please, please don't do this to him again. Sunlight is very painful for a troll and excessive exposure is incredibly dangerous. Can I trust you not to put my boy in danger again?"

"Yes, Ms. Pansy," Sofia said in a small voice.

"Good. You better get home. I'm sure your parents are worried."

* * *

King Roland and Queen Miranda were indeed worried and Sofia's remorseful explanation did little to assuage them. They grounded her for a week and ordered her to write Ms. Pansy a letter of apology in that time. Later that day, Queen Miranda pulled her daughter aside for a talk in the gardens, her Queen demeanor exchanged for concerned mother.

"Sofia, was it really your idea to come back so late?" She was fairly certain it had been, but as a mother she had to make sure Gnarly hadn't grown into a bad influence.

"Yeah, it was," Sofia answered, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"I know you are, dear, but I don't think you know exactly how dangerous keeping Gnarly out in the daylight was. Sofia," she said seriously. "Too much sun and Gnarly would have been turned to stone."

Sofia's breath caught in her throat. "I-I didn't know," she stammered. Why hadn't Gnarly told her?

"From now on, I want you to remember that your actions have consequences for other people that you may not be able to anticipate. That's why we have rules and curfews, sweetheart, to keep you and your friends safe," Miranda said.

"I understand. I'll remember," she managed.

Her mother kissed her on the side of the head before leaving her to digest their conversation. Alone, all Sofia could think about was how Gnarly's stone hand would have felt in hers. A lump rose in her throat and she could hardly breathe around it.

"Sofia?" came Amber's voice from down the path.

Sofia looked up.

Amber hurried over, her hair looking distinctly ruffled. "What's the matter?" she asked.

Sofia jerked her head from side to side twice, unable to speak. Tears filled her eyes.

"Oh, Sofia, dear," Amber said gently. She put an arm around her sister, who laid her head on the older princess's shoulder and cried. "It'll be alright," Amber murmured, hoping it came out comforting. This really wasn't her strong suit, but her sister needed her.

Sofia quieted after a short while. "I…I messed up really bad, Amber, and something awful almost happened to Gnarly."

Oh. This was about Gnarly. No wonder. "Tell me everything, from the beginning," she commanded.

"I slept over at Teeny's last night so Gnarly and I could go to the orchard together early this morning for Ms. Pansy. We'd planned to be back before the sun came up."

Amber nodded. She knew about the trollfolk's aversion to sunlight, even if she herself vastly preferred it to icky dank caves.

"It was such a nice night, and I was having such a good time. I didn't want to leave yet." Sofia took a deep breath. "I made Gnarly stay, even though I knew the sun was coming up."

Amber patted her sympathetically (probably). "But he's going to be alright, isn't he?" she asked. The younger princess nodded. "Then no harm done. Put it out of your mind, Sofia."

Sofia frowned. "But Amber, he could have turned to stone."

"But he didn't, and now that you know better, the two of you will be more careful, right?"

"Right, but…"

"No 'buts.' A princess doesn't dwell on what might have been," Amber said, smiling encouragingly (as best she could).

Her attempt must have been successful, because Sofia relaxed a mite. After a moment's silence, she wondered out loud, "I still don't understand why he didn't insist on coming back though."

"Sofia, darling, it's so obvious," Amber answered with a disbelieving quirk of her eyebrows. That poor boy was utterly and irrevocably wrapped around Sofia's little finger, much like a certain dashing young guard was wrapped around Amber's own little finger. The blonde felt her cheeks heat faintly as she thought of her lieutenant and secret meetings at their out-of-the-way gazebo.

Oblivious to Amber's blush, Sofia asked, "What? What's obvious?"

"Nothing," Amber said breezily.

"Amber!"

"Don't worry, Sofia, he'll tell you when he's ready."

Sofia worked on her all afternoon, but Amber wouldn't say another word on the subject.

* * *

The minute her punishment was lifted, Sofia went down to the troll village to see Gnarly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked anxiously, stepping out of the strong circle of his arms.

"Shorty, it's been a week. I'm fine."

As if she didn't believe him, she turned his hand over in both of hers, making sure it felt like before. Did she detect an inordinate stiffness in the motion of his thumb?

For his part, Gnarly was enjoying her examination, though it did make him a little giddy. On impulse, he tangled his fingers in hers. Sofia flushed and looked up with wide eyes. "Uh, how about we go for a walk?" he said, quickly withdrawing his hand.

"Okay."

They went out to the beach, leaving their shoes by the cave mouth. The smell of the ocean curled around them on the whim of a playful breeze, and Sofia hiked up the skirt of her gown so they could walk in the surf, wishing she'd worn something more sensible.

"Really Sofia, I'm fine. It was just a headache," Gnarly said into the silence that had fallen.

She stopped and looked up at him again. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Gnarly shifted uncomfortably. He knew she meant the stone thing. "I didn't want to scare you. Besides, I knew we'd make it back before anything permanent happened."

"But what if we hadn't?" The lump in her throat was back.

"We did," he said, eyes pleading with her to not dwell on it.

"Gnarly," she said seriously. "I don't ever want to lose you. Promise you won't let me put you in danger again?"

"Sofia," he said, serious in his own turn. "I can promise you two things. One, I will never do anything to make you unhappy, and that includes allowing any harm to come to either of us; and two, for as long as you want me around, I'll be here, with you."

Sofia's voice lodged in her chest.

"Hey, it's okay," Gnarly said. He hoped he hadn't scared her. Maybe he'd said too much; darn, and he'd been doing such a good job of holding back too. Time for some levity. "That means you're stuck with me, in all my large, green, occasionally flatulent glory. Lucky you, huh?" he grinned.

A tentative smile lifted the corners of her lips and her hands sought out his. "Lucky me."

* * *

**AN:** Thank you so much for reading!

Would anyone be interested in another part to this story? Or an unrelated, really sad oneshot where Gnarly does turn to stone?


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